i eat it my way………

Tag Archives: tuna

Happy New Year to you all! I have been very quiet in the blogosphere. One excuse I have is because of busy lately in the Christmas and New Year Period. However, when I looked back it’s mainly because I have not opened my laptop as much as I did in the past. I use the iPad more often. Of course there is a WordPress app but it’s never as user friendly as using the computer in particular with the formatting, there is no way to make bullet points, I would need to draft from the app and then finalize online using the laptop.

I do have a few unfinished draft and here is one of them. I have been using my iPhone to take food photos instead of using SLR. I am now less picky than before. I have been thinking recently if I should stop blogging totally, because my aim of blogging is to keep the recipes I like and that I would definitely make again and again. I have discovered a few apps (e.g. Keep Recipes and Food Reporter) which serve the purpose but then I would store by recipes here and there but not in one place. I hope to get back to my blogging routine together this year and not distracted by other things. In 2013, my primary goals are more blogging and continue learning German.

Without further ado here is my avocado tuna cerviche, extremely to quick and easy to make, it’s a fusion of Mexican and Japanese cooking style, hope you will like it.

I love sushi and sashimi!!! Last week I was craving them again. Instead of going out and eating in a Japanese restaurant, I made kaisendon at home, it was a spontaneous decision, I did not want to make sushi rolls this time as it would be rather time consuming but at the same time I wanted to do something different instead of just eating as sashimi. So kaisendon can fulfil my desire, another advantage of kaisendon is that the rice underneath the sashimi is still slightly warm when served.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

300g, two to three types of fresh seafood that is suitable for sashimi (e.g. salmon, tuna and 2 king scallops as seen above) or other white fishes such as yellowtail, kingfish, etc

Using a clean chopping board & cutting knife (best to rinse with hot water just before cutting and dry with kitchen paper), cut the fish into slices of about 0.7cm thickness and slice the scallops into 2-3 pieces.

Half filled two big bowls with the cooked rice and lay and arrange the pieces of fish and scallop on top of the rice.

Sprinkle some nori on one side of the rice bowls and then the sesame seeds as garnish if desire.

Add a bit of wasabi to both rice bowls and serve immediately with some soy sauce on a small dish.

I have joined Foodie Blogroll last week and subsequently in the forum there. I have to say it’s really a great platform to meet other foodies out there who have the same interests as you. There you can feel free to ask any questions. While I was browsing in the forum, I discovered that there is a monthly foodie event: Royal Food Joust. Each month there will be a winner and he/ she will choose 3 ingredients which the following month’s contestants must include in their recipe.

Peter is the winner for July and he has picked Cilantro (Coriander), Seafood and Sesame (seeds and/ or oil) for August.

I felt this is a great idea and so I decided to give a try and have some fun. It feels different when someone choose the ingredients for you than you decide it yourself.

So last Friday I had my creative Friday, my rationale was to create a summer dish that is refreshing and light. I have never cooked couscous but it came into my mind all of a sudden that this is a great combination with the tuna and salad.

So here is my submission: Pan-seared Tuna with Tomato couscous and Rocket salad

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Pan-seared Tuna

600g fresh tuna (best to get the ones suitable for sushi or tell the fish monger that you want to pan-seared & ask him to find you a suitable piece, they are usually friendly & helpful)

Sauce for Tuna:

Handful of (Cilantro) Coriander finely chopped, only use the leaves and thin stalks

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

2 tbsp honey

3 tsp soy sauce

1 tbsp aceto balsamico

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp sesame oil

few drops of Tabasco sauce

4 tbsp sesame seeds

Tomato & Coriander Couscous

1 big red onion or 2 small ones, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

3 fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed and cut into small cubes

a handful of cilantro finely chopped

200g couscous

200ml hot water (a little less if you have a lot of juice come out from tomato, Ratio of water: couscous is 1: 1)

1/2 cube of vegetable or chicken bouillon

Rocket (rucola) salad

120g rocket (rucola) salad, washed and drained

half a lemon

extra virgin olive oil

Method:

1. Prepare the couscous

Heat up some olive oil in a pan, add in the garlic and onion and cook for 1 min and keep stirring

Add in the chopped tomateo, mix them and sauté for 5 mins in medium heat.

At the same time, boil some water in a steamer. Put the couscous in a wide bowl that can fit in the steamer.

Melt the bouillion in the hot water

Using a big spoon, mix in the tomato mixture into the couscous and then add in the boillion mixture

Steam the couscous for 30 mins.

Take out the couscous from the steamer, drizzle about 2-3 tbsp of olive oil & mix in the chopped cilantro and season with a little bit of salt if necessary

This can be kept aside for the time being

2. While the couscous is in the steamer, prepare the sauce for the tuna and pan-sear the tuna

Roast the sesame seeds for 3-4 mins on medium heat until they turn slightly brown

Place the roasted sesame seeds into the pestle and mortar, crush them for about 8 – 10 times and transfer to a bowl

Mix in the other ingredients of the sauce to the bowl (except the coriander, we put this last) as described above and set aside

Heat up the griddle pan or a frying pan, then pour in some olive oil. Slowly place the tuna fillets into the pan and pan sear the tuna for approx 2 mins on each side (depends on the thickness of your tuna)

Remove the tuna from the pan and place them on a plate with kitchen towel for absorbing excess oil

3. Prepare the rocket salad

Put the rocket salad in a big salad bowl. Dress the salad with lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil

Keep aside

4. Now by this time you should have everything ready, you can slice up the tuna carefully

5. Divide them onto four serving plates

6. Put some rocket salad and a few spoonful of the couscous on each plate

7. Lastly you mix the chopped cilantro into the sauce you prepared before and using a spoon, top the sauce on the tuna (Do not top too much liquid from the sauce to avoid the plate too wet, serve the excess sauce aside for dipping). It is now ready to serve.

Note. Normally couscous is cooked in the water for a few minutes when you read the instructions from the pack, I learnt the steaming method from Jamie Oliver’s Cookbook: Jamie’s Italy where he learnt it from an Italian old lady. I think although it takes longer than boiling but the flavor of slow cooking should be better as the flavor of the vegetable should immerse well into the couscous.